Posted on February 8, 2009

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Donations for Hurricane Ike Recovery Efforts Dwindle

Donations supporting post-Ike recovery efforts along the Texas Gulf Coast have slowed dramatically, and two of the three major hurricane recovery funds are scaling back or ending their fundraising efforts, the Houston Chronicle reports.

The United Way of Greater Houston, which raised $5.8 million for hurricane recovery, is no longer in active fundraising mode but will continue to focus on longer-term social service needs. The organization has committed an additional $1.3 million from a separate fund to that end and intends to ask foundations and state government for additional assistance. Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund, which has provided funds for emergency and short-term needs through several dozen regional organizations, expects to distribute all of the $11.8 million that it raised by March and will shut its doors shortly thereafter. Only the Bush-Clinton Coastal Recovery Fund is still actively raising funds, which it will use to rebuild churches, roads, and other cpublic infrastructure.

According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, charitable giving for the three hurricanes — Katrina, Rita, and Wilma — that battered the Gulf Codst in 2005 topped $6.4 billion. By comparison, the response to Hurricane Ike has been lackluster, and experts say that part of the problem could be timing. Ike struck on September 13, 2008; two days later, storied investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, sending the stock market into a tailspin from which it has yet to recover.

Organizations on the front lines of service delivery agree, however, that more money is needed to address the residual effects of the storm. "I get calls, and people are crying," said Julie Reid of the Lutheran Inter-City Network Coalition-Houston. "They're ready to give up because Houston has basically moved on."

Kever, Jeannie. “Ike Donations Slow Down, but Need Still Remains.” Houston Chronicle 2/03/09.

Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Secondary Subject(s): Hurricane Relief
Location(s): Gulf Coast

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